The Doctor in Goldstone Wood
by Applepieforever
Summary: A Doctor Who and Tales of Goldstone Wood crossover. The Tardis brings the Doctor and Rose to a strange enchanted wood which seems to exist outside of time. Little do they know that they brought trouble with them as they deal with a loquacious cat man, a brave Dame, notorious villains, faeries aplenty, and a world tearing apart at the seams.


A loud, wheezing whorsh whorsh broke the uncommon stillness in the wood between. As the noise pulsed and faded, a tall slim blue box gradually appeared in a small clearing laced by caorann bushes and starflower vines. The stillness of the forever wood was once again interrupted by the Doctor, who opened the door to the Tardis to look into this vast unknown world.

"Well!" He proclaimed after a brief glimpse just outside the doors, popping back into the interior of his Tardis. "Don't think I've ever been here before."

"That's not a problem, is it?" Rose asked, a smile on her lips for she already knew the answer.

"Nope! None at all. Let's go take a look!" The Doctor exuberantly led the way to the door and made his first step into this strange world.

As Rose strolled along the perimeter of the otherworldly clearing, reluctant to go too far, the Doctor examined everything from the bright green vines and bushes to the smallest sigh of wind closely. "Something is not right here," he said out loud as if testing the words, not quite sure of their meaning.

Rose, who had up to this point been feeling nervous about the lack of usual forest noise such as birdsong or snapping twigs in the background, mustered up her courage by telling herself that there was absolutely nothing to be afraid of, although the Doctor's recent words were nothing to be encouraged by. "Well," she began, convincing herself as she walked slowly up behind the Doctor. "If there's something wrong, we can fix it." She smiled, but wasn't sure the Doctor saw it. She suddenly frowned, realizing he really was confused.

"What's wrong?" she asked, bending down next to him to see if she could help. He was staring at the ground as if there was something there that he could see that she couldn't.

"I know I can't say that this place feels 'unique' to me 'cause I've been to thousands of worlds. When you travel as much as I have, you begin to see patterns. Woods like these tend to have an abundance of animals or mischievous creatures, but this wood is different than any place I've ever been to before, and I have been to a lot of forests."

Rose smiled, hoping he was joking. "It's just a regular old wood!"

The Doctor spoke cautiously, his voice quiet as if he was wary of an eavesdropping presence, "Look. There are no leaves upon the ground and-" he pointed towards a spot on the ground which looked no different from the rest of the grass covered clearing. "-there are these strange…paths, I guess you call them."

"I don't see any paths," Rose told him, concerned that he was seeing something she couldn't, but it was his confusion that made her nervous. "Come on," she beckoned. "It's just another challenge we have to face."

The Doctor stood and smiled, shedding his worry like a too tight skin. "Ah, yes! Let's go find out what's wrong."

Rose cast him an 'I-told-you-so' sort of smile, and began to walk towards a break between the trees which seemed to form a trail to her eyes.

"Rose! Wait!" The Doctor suddenly exclaimed. "Don't-!" He rushed forward to try and stop her before she went any further, but as his words reached her ears, she disappeared from sight. She vanished as a silvery, barely distinguishable path that only the Doctor could see whisked her away.

He stopped, standing exactly where his companion had last been, frozen in disbelief. She couldn't be gone, but the path that she had stepped onto had now vanished along with her.

He snapped out of his stupor, searching around for another path with the hopes that it would take him to her. He was about to step onto the closest one when he heard the sound of another being behind him. "Well, Imraldera old girl-" the stranger began in a loud voice; breaking off as he realized whomever he was talking to was not there.

The Doctor turned and saw a tall golden man clad in scarlet who had not been there a moment before.

"Hullo," the stranger greeted, his voice curious although tinged with caution. The Doctor noticed the twin knives strapped on his belt. "Who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor," the Doctor answered, not taking his eyes off this stranger. "And who might you be?"

The man broke out in a wide grin as if he was glad the Doctor had asked and made an elegant bow. "I am bard Eanrin, chief poet of Rudiobus, and knight in the service of Farthest Shore." He rose, his golden eyes twinkling.

"Well, Sir Eanrin," the Doctor began, briefly looking over his shoulder, hoping that Rose had reappeared in his distraction. She was nowhere to be seen, so he continued, asking the most important question. "Where am I?"

"You are in Goldstone wood. A very unlucky place to be, for it is not very friendly to travelers and I can tell this is your first time here." He paused his speech, casting his quick golden eyes around the clearing, his nose twitching. "Do you have a mortal companion?"

"Yes, I do. Or-" the Doctor looked over his shoulder again, this time actually walking over to the site of her disappearance. He felt an ache in his chest and knew it would only go away with Rose's return. "She disappeared into thin air. One of those paths, if that is what they are called, took her away and now the path is gone as well."

Eanrin walked up to the location of Rose's disappearance and crouched next to the Doctor. He noticed how cat-like he was in his movement. "So you are immortal, are you not?" Eanrin asked.

"No. Does that matter?" He ground his teeth in frustration. He just wanted Rose back and, from what he could tell, Eanrin was in no particular hurry, but the Doctor knew he was hopeless without his help.

"You must be, for otherwise you would not be able to detect the paths without help from—" Eanrin paused, thinking a moment. "Or maybe you will be immortal. It can tell what you are, what you were, and what you will be. It's—"

"Yes. But do you know where she could have gone? I need to get her back!"

Eanrin stood up and folded his arms, speaking in his golden voice in a poetic lilt, "What does this mortal maid mean to you that you wish to fetch her back?" He leaned against the Tardis, his long legs crossed, completely at his leisure, waiting for a response.

The Doctor could feel hot anger flooding his veins. "She means a lot to me, and how can I plan to fetch her if I don't even know where she has been fetched off to?"

"Alright, I can help you. I know this wood better than most. What the-" Eanrin, as he turned around, finally realized what he was standing against. "Dragon's teeth! Has this box been here the entire time?"

"Yes. You can get a tour later. Show me where she went!"

"Right." Eanrin, in one sure stride, suddenly turned into a cat, catching the Doctor by surprise although not alarming him. He has seen stranger things before.

The cat, who was a man, sniffed around, examining the paths, but not getting too close to any particular one. "Ah!" He exclaimed at last. "The Lumil Eliasul is looking out for us!"

The Doctor looked and saw another ethereal path glimmering in the unnatural light. Eanrin waited for him at the edge of it. Taking a determined stride, he made his way across the clearing. Seeing he had arrived, Eanrin leapt onto the path, still in his cat form, and the Doctor followed. As soon as his foot touched the path, his vision blurred along the edges and he felt the sensation of moving miles in a single stride. The path wound throughout the forest, yet moved towards a final point. A calm swept over him and he knew many things awaited him at this destination. Rose would be there at the other end. And danger. There was always danger. 


End file.
